Ottawa | Literary | Ephemera

The Factory Reading Series: A VERSeFest Fundraiser

I will be giving a talk on Raymond Souster as part of a fundraiser for VERSeFest organized by rob mclennan through his Factory Reading Series this coming Thursday. Pearl Pirie and Stephen Brockwell will also be speaking. Pearl has all the details in a comprehensive post over at Pesbo.

VERSeFest has been a good thing for our city in the last two years, and its a nice to be able to contribute in some small way to keeping it running. Show up, lend your support, buy some books. $10.00 gets you in, gets you a copy of Peter F. Yacht Club, and gets you three talks on poetry, poetics, and literary history. Pearl and Stephen are both wonderful poets and thoughtful, articulate people. I have no doubt that their talks will be worth the price of admission.

My talk on Raymond Souster, planned before his death, will focus on his contributions to Canadian poetry in the 20th century as an editor, publisher, and small press activist. Sort of like this but with more poems and more primary documents (letters!). I’ve even made a little handout that you’ll get free if you show up.